President Announces Year-Round Sale Of E-15 Gasoline

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he is ending a federal ban on the year-round sale of E-15 ethanol blended gasoline in the U.S. The move is seen as a boost to Iowa and other states who grow corn and produce ethanol.

The White House said that the EPA will publish a rule that will allow high ethanol blends as part of proposed changes to the ethanol mandate. The move is a bit of a reversal for Trump, who earlier in the year proposed rollbacks to the ethanol program. But after meetings with Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the leading ethanol proponent in the Senate, and Senator Joni Ernst, Trump agreed that the new deal is good for Iowa and the country.

The EPA currently bans the sale of E-15 gasoline because of concerns that in hot summer months, the increased ethanol would cause smog in large cities, a claim that is largely unfounded. The proposed rule change would allow E-15 to go on sale next summer.